Guy Stewart Ritchie is a director, screenwriter and producer and the epitome of the crime comedy genre in every sense of the word. He was born in Hatfield on 10 September 1968, into a family descended from the English King Edward I. He spent much of his youth at his stepfather’s 17th-century mansion. Richie suffers from dyslexia and was expelled from school at the age of 15 without the certificate he later received.
According to Richie, he had been dreaming of cinema since school and was attending directing courses. He worked as a courier, got into advertising, and made a short film that caught the attention of Sting’s wife, Trudie Styler. He decided to sponsor Ritchie’s next work – and that’s how Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was born; this paved the way for cinema not only for the director, but also for Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones, who played key roles. At the same time, she became friends with young director Madonna.
Two years later, Snatch, starring Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro, was released, cementing the director’s status. After this, Richie shoots the feature film “Swept Away” in which he stars, as well as several videos for Madonna. The film received 5 anti-Golden Raspberry award statuettes. After returning to the genre, Ritchie starred as Robert Downey Jr. He also shot the films Revolver, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes, The Agents of UNCLE, Aladdin and The Gentlemen. Ritchie’s latest film at the box office is the offbeat “The Interpreter,” an American drama about the war in the Middle East starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
Richie and Madonna were together for seven years, have a son named Rocco, and also adopted a boy from Malawi named David Banda. The couple separated in 2008. Richie has been married to model Jackie Ainslie since 2015, with whom he was together for 5 years before their wedding. They have three children: Rafael, Rivka and Levi.